Chip card having a projection mirror
A chip card for generating an image projection includes a substrate, a mirror which is held movable with reference to the substrate, an actuator for moving the mirror with reference to the substrate and a processor for processing image information for driving the actuator in order to move the mirror according to the image information, in order to generate the image projection.
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This application is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP02/08089, filed Jul. 19, 2002, which published in German on Feb. 20, 2003 as WO 03/015022 A1.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chip card and in particular to a chip card having an integrated moveable mirror.
2. Description of the Related Art
Chip cards continuously gain currency with numerous applications, for example as telephone cards for public telephones or as a payment means in the form of EC cards (electronic cash cards) or payment cards. At that, it is desirable in many applications that information which is stored on the chip card, for example a balance on a payment card, may be shown to a user. The optical output of text, data or graphics by a chip card itself is today limited to indications or displays, respectively, laminated into the card, for example liquid crystal displays. These are still very small in order to guarantee a sufficient mechanical stability, whereby a reproduction of more complex texts or graphics is almost impossible. It is conceivable that in future the overall surface of the chip card will be provided with a display foil or indication foil, respectively. Also in this case the reproduction face is always reduced to the ISO format of the chip card, however.
A further important aspect in the illustration of information which is stored on the chip card is the security against a manipulation of data. If information leaves the chip card controller, it needs to be protected against manipulations.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is the object of the present invention to provide an improved chip card and an improved chip card read out device for a chip card with the use of which an image may be illustrated.
In accordance with a first aspect, the present invention provides a chip card for generating a two-dimensional image projection, having a substrate, a mirror, which is held rotationally moveable around two axes with reference to the substrate, an actuator for moving the mirror with reference to the substrate around the two axes, and a processor for processing image information for driving the actuator in order to move the mirror rotationally around the two axes according to the image information in order to generate the two-dimensional image projection.
In accordance with a second aspect, the present invention provides a chip card reading device, having a chip card holding means, and a light source holding means for holding a light source generating a light beam, wherein the chip card holding means and the light source holding means are arranged so that the light beam may fall onto a mirror of a chip card when the chip card is held within the chip card holding means, and that a light beam reflected by the mirror may fall onto a projection face, wherein the chip card holding means is further implemented so that it may hold the chip card so that the mirror is visible from the outside.
According to the present invention, a chip card for generating an image projection includes a substrate, a mirror which is moveably held which reference to the substrate, an actuator for moving the mirror with regard to the substrate and a processor for processing image information for driving the actuator in order to move the mirror according to the image information in order to generate the image projection.
Preferably, the actuator is mounted to the substrate, and further the mirror is preferably attached at or in the chip card so that it is not visible from the outside. Further, a chip card according to the present invention preferably comprises a memory and/or an input for image information.
Further, a chip card according to the present invention may comprise a controllable light shutter which is arranged in a light path along which a light beam may propagate which impinges on the mirror and is reflected from there. Alternatively or additionally the chip card may comprise an electrical contact via which the chip card is connectable to a light source, wherein the processor is further provided to apply a light source control signal to the electrical contact.
Preferably, the mirror of the chip card faces a surface of the chip card, on which the chip card comprises no electrical contacts.
According to the present invention, a chip card reading device includes a chip card holding means and a light source holding means for holding a light source which generates a light beam, wherein the chip card holding means and the light source holding means are arranged so that the light beam may fall onto a mirror of a chip card when the chip card is held within the chip card holding means and that a light beam reflected from the mirror may fall onto any projection face which may be part of the chip card reading device.
The chip card holding means of the inventive chip card reading device may be implemented so that it can hold the chip card such that the mirror of the chip card is visible from the outside. For this the chip card holding means may for example comprise a slot which takes up the chip card only so far that the mirror is visible from the outside.
In the inventive chip card reading device, the chip card holding means and the light source holding means are preferably implemented so that the chip card holding means may hold the chip card and the light source holding means may hold the light source so that an angle between the light beam and the mirror greater than 0 degrees and smaller than 90 degrees is present, wherein the angle is preferably 45 degrees.
Preferably, the light source is a laser or a laser pointer. The chip card holding means and the light source holding means are preferably implemented so that light source holding means may accept the light source so that the light beam is not interfered with by the chip card holding means when no chip card is inserted into the chip card holding means.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the chip card reading device further comprises a diode laser which is held by the light source holding means, and the light source holding means comprises a hinge via which the chip card holding means and the diode laser are movably connected to each other.
According to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the chip card reading device is implemented as a chip card terminal and includes a light source which is held by the light source holding means, a means for determining whether the chip card is admitted for the chip card reading device and a means for enabling or switching on the light source, respectively.
In other words, the present invention describes a chip card comprising an integrated laser projector. On the chip card controller a micromechanically moveable mirror is integrated which may deflect an incoming laser beam having a high frequency in order to project text, data or graphics onto any projection face using the deflected laser beam.
The projection face may thereby be some square meters large and may either be provided for example in the form of a projection screen in a chip card reading device in itself or it may be an arbitrary face which is mainly provided for other purposes, for example a sheet of paper or a wall of a room.
One advantage of the inventive chip card is, that the mirror may be substantially smaller than a projection of text, data or graphics generated by the same onto a projection face. In particular, the mirror may be so small so that it may easily be protected from a mechanical damage or destruction and that a manipulation is much more difficult.
A further advantage of the present invention is that the mirror may be manufactured cost-effectively as a micromechanical member or as a microactuator, respectively, as a semiconductor device and may further be integrated with the chip card controller or the processor, respectively, of the chip card. An integral implementation of the mirror with the actuator and the processor offers a further substantial improvement of safety from manipulation.
A special advantage of the present invention is that the microcontroller or processor, respectively, of the chip card implements the data/graphics projections itself, so that a corruption of the output data is extremely difficult. An especially secured terminal is not necessary. A very simple arrangement of a conventional diode laser, as it is for example used for a laser pointer, may be used together with a very cost-effective chip card reading device. It is obvious for a user that the illustrated output in the form of the projected text or the projected graphics is not generated by the terminal but directly by the chip card. The output is therefore especially trustworthy and the use of an expensive manipulation-safe terminal may be renounced.
An inventive chip card terminal may comprise a diode laser which may be modulated. The chip card terminal may mechanically hold a chip card, provide the same with electrical power and further provides a laser beam with the help of the diode laser which may be modulated, wherein the same may be digitally modulated and deflected by the chip card. For a modulation the laser beam may either be switched on or off by the input/output contact (I/O contact) of the chip card or the laser beam is faded out on the chip card by a light shutter, e.g. in the form of a liquid crystal shutter (LCD shutter; LCD=liquid crystal display) prior to the mirror system. For this, a simple modification of a conventional presentation laser pointer is sufficient.
In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention are explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The electrically conductive contact faces 8 serve as an electrical interface of the processor 10 via which the processor may be provided with electrical power from the outside, for example from a chip card reading device or a terminal, and via which data may be exchanged between the processor and the chip card reading device or the terminal, respectively. The actuator 16 is electrically controllable by the processor 10 in order to move the mirror 12 with respect to the substrate 18 of the chip card 2. Apart from the functions implemented in conventional chip cards, for example for an authentication of the chip card or a user of the chip card or a storage of data, the processor 10 of the chip card 2 according to the present invention comprises functions for processing image information and for driving the actuator 16 in order to move the mirror 12 according to the image information in order to generate an illustration of text, graphics or other types of data by a projection of a light beam onto a projection face caused by the mirror 12. Details of the projection are explained in more detail with reference to
The chip card holding means 32 is implemented so that it may mechanically hold a chip card 2, as it is illustrated in
For illustrating data in the form of text or graphics the processor 10 controls the actuator 16 so that the mirror 12 rotationally moves to and fro with a high frequency around two axes. Accordingly, the direction of the light beam 38′ deflected by the mirror 12 and the location of the light point on the projection face 40 by the deflected light beam 38 changes. By a repeated movement of the light points 42 over the projection face 40 with a sufficient frequency, for example 20 Hz, for the human observer, for example the user of the chip card reading device 30, the impression of an image results.
Here, there are several possibilities to generate the light points 42 so that an image results. When the laser 34 continuously emits a light beam 38, the mirror 12 may be controlled by the processor 10 so that the deflected light beam 38′ hits the projection face 40 only at these locations or only at the locations, for a time which is substantial for the human eye, at which a visible light point 42 is to appear, wherein the mirror 12 is moved so that the deflected light beam 38′ either bypasses image faces on the projection face 40 which are to appear darkened or sweeps the same very fast. This way of generating an overall image which seems to be stationary or slowly moving to the human eye is similar to those in an old analog oscilloscope in which an electron beam deflected by electrical or magnetical fields quickly repeatedly describes exactly those areas of an image face of a Braun valve which are to appear light to an observer.
Alternatively, in the chip card 2 at the second surface 6 in the area of the mirror 12 a light shutter may be arranged which is controllable by the processor 10, for example a liquid crystal shutter (LCD shutter; LCD=liquid crystal display). In this case, the deflected light beam 38′ which is directed by the mirror 12 scans the projection face 40 preferably in rows, similar to the way an electron beam of a television cathode-ray tube describes the image face. Using the light shutter the processor 10 may face out the light beam 38 before the reflection at the mirror 12 and/or the deflected light beam 38′ after the reflection at the mirror 12 in order to generate dark image areas on the projection face 40.
A further alternative is for the processor 10 to control the light emission of the laser 34. This is preferably performed using a light source control signal which the processor 10 of the chip card 2 generates and applies to one of the contact faces 8 of the chip card 2, wherein the chip card holding means 32 taps the light source control signal of this contact face 8 and feeds it to the laser 34 in order to control its light emission, for example by switching its power supply on and off. Similar to the image generation method described above, the mirror 12 is controlled by the processor 10 also in this case so that the light beam 38′ deflected from the mirror 12 sweeps the whole image face on the projection face 40 row by row, so that for a human observer the impression of a homogenously lit face results when the light emission of the laser 34 is not modulated. By switching off or reducing the light emission of the laser 34 controlled by the processor 10 dark image areas may be generated onto which the deflected light beam 38 does not impinge or only with a low intensity.
Preferably, the chip card reading device 30 or the chip card holding means 32 are implemented so, that the light beam 38 is not affected, i.e. deflected, scattered or attenuated, when no chip card 2 is inserted in the chip card holding means 32. For this the chip card holding means 32 for example comprises a recess in the area of the propagation direction of the light beam 38 through which the light beam 38 may pass unhindered. Further, the chip card reading device 30 may be implemented so that the chip card holding means 32 may be hinged to the light output of the laser 34 when no chip card 2 is inserted into the chip card holding means, so that the chip card reading device 30 for example approximately takes on the form of a pin. Even in this shut state of the chip card reading device 30 the light beam 38 of the laser 34 may exit the chip card reading device 30 unhindered when a corresponding opening or a corresponding light channel, respectively, is provided in the chip card holding means 32. In both described implementation variations of the chip card reading device 30 the same is useable as a laser pointer when no chip card 2 is inserted into the chip card holding means 32.
A further variance of the chip card reading device 30 only comprises a light source holding means instead of the laser 34, using which a laser pointer may temporarily be attached to the chip card holding means 32 while the chip card reading device 30 is used as such. The chip card reading device 30 is in this case an attachment for the laser pointer, using which the laser pointer may be used for illustrating information which is stored on a chip card. As the attachment does not need to comprise further functional elements apart from a mechanical holder and a simple power supply for the chip card 2, it may be small and very cost-effective and still allow a comfortable and manipulation-secure reading out of information which is stored on the chip card. As by a chip card 2 inserted into the chip card holding means 32 text, graphics or other data, which is stored on the chip card 2 or was generated by the same, were illustrated by the projection onto the projection face 40, the laser pointer may be taken off the light source holding means again in order to serve as a usual pointing instrument. The hinge 36 may for example be implemented as a light source holding means so that a laser pointer may removably be mounted to the same.
Preferably, the chip card reading device 30, similar to the way it is illustrated in
Also the chip card reading device 50 is preferably implemented so that the light path from the laser 34 via the mirror 12 of the chip card 2 to the projection face 40 and in particular the mirror 12 of the chip card are visible for the user so that the user may convince himself any time that the image projected onto the projection face 40 was generated by the chip card 2 and is not manipulated by the chip card reading device 50.
The projection face 40 may, as it was described above, be part of the chip card reading device 50, or similar to the embodiment illustrated in
While the chip card reading device 30 of
Further, the chip card reading device 50 of
Deviating from the embodiments illustrated in
The chip card holding means 32 both of the chip card reading device 30 of
In the chip card reading device 30 the chip card holding means 32 and the laser 34 may be connected to each other by a rigid member instead of the hinge 36.
The chip card 2, as it is illustrated in
The mirror 12 and the processor 10 may arbitrarily be arranged within the chip card 2, wherein an electrical connection between the processor 10 and the actuator 16 and a mechanical connection between the actuator 16 and the mirror 12 is present, so that the processor 10 may move the mirror 12. As all kinds of electrical lines offer a possibility for manipulation, the processor 10, the actuator 16 and the mirror 12 are preferably arranged in close proximity to each other or in particular preferably on a single semiconductor chip. The processor 10, the actuator 16 and the mirror 12, as it is illustrated in
The actuator 16 may for example be an electrostatical or a piezoelectrical actuator, wherein the mirror 12 is preferably rotatable or pivotable around two axes, in order to facilitate a variable diffraction of the light beam 38 in two directions perpendicular to each other and so enable the creation of a two-dimensional image.
Instead of the contact faces 8 illustrated in
The chip card 2 may comprise a memory and/or an input for image information which may be part of the processor 10, so that an image projected by the processor 10 using the actuator 16 and the mirror 12 may comprise image information which are stored only or partially on the chip card 2 or within the processor 10, respectively, or are for example transmitted from a terminal to the chip card 2 or are formed or calculated by the processor 10 of the chip card 2 both from data transmitted to the chip card 2 from the outside and from data stored within the chip card 2 itself.
Further, the chip card 2 may have its own power supply, for example using a solar cell or a battery, so that an external power supply is not required by the chip card reading device 30 or 50. A chip card reading device for such a chip card 2 must correspondingly provide no power supply for the chip card 2.
Further, the chip card 2 may be implemented without an interface for transmitting data, wherein it is provided only for illustrating information which is stored within the chip card.
While this invention has been described in terms of several preferred embodiments, there are alterations, permutations, and equivalents which fall within the scope of this invention. It should also be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing the methods and compositions of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims be interpreted as including all such alterations, permutations, and equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. Chip card for generating a two-dimensional image projection, comprising:
- a substrate,
- a mirror, which is held rotationally moveable around two axes with reference to the substrate;
- an actuator for moving the mirror with reference to the substrate around the two axes; and
- a processor for processing image information for driving the actuator in order to move the mirror rotationally around the two axes according to the image information in order to generate the two-dimensional image projection.
2. Chip card according to claim 1, wherein the actuator is mounted to the substrate.
3. Chip card according to claim 1, wherein the mirror is arranged at the chip card so that it is visible from the outside.
4. Chip card according to claim 1, further comprising a memory for image information.
5. Chip card according to claim 1, further comprising an input for image information.
6. Chip card according to claim 1, further comprising a controllable light shutter arranged within a light path along which a light beam may propagate which impinges onto the mirror and is reflected from the same.
7. Chip card according to claim 1, further comprising an electrical contact via which the chip card is connectable to a light source, wherein the processor is further provided to apply a light source control signal to the electrical contact.
8. Chip card according to claim 1, wherein the mirror faces a surface of the chip card on which the chip card comprises no electrical contacts.
9. Chip card according to claim 1, wherein the processor, the actuator and the mirror are implemented integrally.
10. Chip card reading device, comprising:
- a chip card holding means; and
- a light source holding means for holding a light source generating a light beam,
- wherein the chip card holding means and the light source holding means are arranged so that the light beam may fall onto a mirror of a chip card when the chip card is held within the chip card holding means, and that a light beam reflected by the mirror may fall onto a projection face, wherein
- the chip card holding means is further implemented so that it may hold the chip card so that the mirror is visible from the outside.
11. Chip card reading device according to claim 10, wherein the chip card holding means further comprises a slot which accepts the chip card only so far that the mirror is visible from the outside.
12. Chip card reading device according to claim 10, wherein the chip card holding means and the light source holding means are further implemented so that the chip card holding means may hold the chip card and the light source holding means may hold the light source so that an angle between the light beam and the mirror is greater than 0 degrees and smaller than 90 degrees.
13. Chip card reading device according to claim 12 wherein the angle is 45 degrees.
14. Chip card reading device according to claim 10, wherein the light source is a laser.
15. Chip card reading device according to claim 10, wherein the light source is a laser pointer.
16. Chip card reading device according to claim 10, wherein the chip card holding means and the light source holding means are implemented so that the light source holding means may accept the light source so that the light beam is not affected by the chip card holding means when no chip card is inserted.
17. Chip card reading device according to claim 10, further comprising:
- a diode laser which is held by the light source holding means,
- wherein the light source holding means comprises a hinge via which the chip card holding means and the diode laser are moveably connected to each other.
18. Chip card reading device according to claim 10, which is further implemented as a chip card terminal and further comprises:
- a light source held by the light source holding means; means for determining whether the chip card is admitted for the chip card reading device;
- and means for enabling the light source.
Type: Grant
Filed: Feb 5, 2004
Date of Patent: Jul 18, 2006
Patent Publication Number: 20040222505
Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG (Munich)
Inventors: Peter Laackmann (Munich), Stefan Rueping (Lengdorf)
Primary Examiner: Karl D. Frech
Assistant Examiner: Lisa M. Caputo
Attorney: Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky, LLP.
Application Number: 10/774,348